I've been sorting through the Ice-Out Contest information I've kept in my files over the years and putting this year's in order. I came across this note from Chico Carcoba, who logged in tickets for us for 14 years. I thought you'd be interested:

From Chico Carcoba, April 18, 2009.

I DID MY FIRST YEAR IN 1994 FOR GEORGE KARNEDY.STILL HAVE SOME RECORDS AND WILL SHARE.
AT THAT TIME , 3000 TICKETS SOLD WAS A BANNER YEAR. LAST YEAR I LOGGED OVER 12,000. WHAT A DIFFERENCE. IN 1994 WE COULD PUBLISH A LIST OF ALL ENTRIES BY NAME/STATE &ETC. FOR LOCALS TO READ AND SEE IF THEY WERE IN THE RUNNING. THAT LISTING WAS DROPPED WHEN IT REACHED 75 PAGES.TICKET ENTRY WAS STREAMLINED AND WINNER WAS IDENTIFIED IN MINUTES AFTER TIME OF ICE OUT WAS ANNOUNCED. VISITED WITH HOMER FITTS YESTERDAY AND ICE WAS SOLID AND WHITE FOR THE MOST PART. COUPLE OF DAYS YET BEFORE THE BLOCK SINKS!

Actually, the clock did stop on April 20th, but the pallet didn't sink right away; it was another of those years when the wind took the ice floe beyond the limits of the slack allowed in the rope.

I also found records of ice going out dating back to 1968. That was 20 years before the contest was formalized, and this was from reports of "no ice left in the pond." My father was one to keep important information, including weather as well as things like when the septic tank was pumped, how much certain appliances or other what he'd spent for garden seeds, etc. Among that information was his observation of when the ice was gone from the pond. He went by every day - going to work in St. Johnsbury, and later, going to West Danville for his morning coffee break with other retired cronies. According to his records, the earliest date the ice was all gone was April 15, 1981. In 1972, it wasn't clear of ice until May 15. In 1971 it was May 10th. Those must have been cold winters.

I noticed that for the four years he kept his record after the contest was set up, the ice was gone from the pond no more than two or three days after the clock stopped. After 1991, the year my mother died, he no longer kept a diary.

We're heading out with Bill and Diane tonight - going to East Side Restaurant in Newport to relax a bit and celebrate the end of Ice-Out.